Last Friday, July 19, at the Ministry of Culture headquarters, a meeting was held where second-year students of the School of Specialization in Architectural and Landscape Heritage, accompanied by the Director Prof. Alessandro Viscogliosi and Prof. Giampiero Marchesi, discussed with the Director General of the PNRR Mission Unit of the Ministry, Engineer Angelantonio Orlando, and other participants, the methods and results of the economic-financial evaluations conducted within the 2024 course “Elements of Cultural Heritage Economics and Economic Evaluation of Projects” taught by Prof. Marchesi.
As part of the course, students learn the main elements of public economics underlying the evaluation methods for public interventions and projects and then apply them directly by setting up and carrying out evaluations on topics—i.e., projects that have restoration and enhancement of cultural resources as an essential component—chosen by the students and discussed with the instructor.
During the meeting, Francesco Vinciguerra presented the economic-financial evaluation conducted on a project aimed at enhancing the cultural offering capacity of the Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, a privately-owned historic residence currently functioning as a museum and event venue. The economic-financial study focused on the restoration and management of the property, highlighting how the results demonstrate both the feasibility and the soundness and public benefit of the examined project hypotheses.
Gianmarco Laterza and Beatrice Sacco (who was unable to attend the meeting; Prof. Marchesi briefly reported on her work) evaluated two urban redevelopment proposals in Rome (respectively Via Giulia and the Mercato Metronio). Their results—although based on somewhat different evaluative approaches—both emphasize, with quantified data, the financial sustainability of these interventions and their public benefit, particularly in terms of improved quality of the urban environment and increased cultural services offered to citizens.
Bianca Di Giorgio, Lorella Palumbo, and Silvia Sanfilippo (also unable to attend) carried out evaluations of three integrated cultural and social regeneration projects for small towns, part of a specific intervention line of the Ministry of Culture within the PNRR framework. These include the towns of Tusa (Messina province), Castello del Matese and Letino (Caserta province), and Tolfa (Rome province). The evaluation results—conducted, among other methods, with an original application of cost-benefit analysis to integrated projects—highlighted the crucial role of the management model in ensuring the financial sustainability of the projects and the clear economic advantage of the initiatives, mainly due to positive externalities generated not only by the increased added value from the expected rise in tourist presence but also by improvements in living conditions in the examined towns, thus spreading benefits to the local residents.
Following interventions by the School Director Prof. Viscogliosi and Paolo Di Nola, Salvo Genovese, and Rosa Giraldi (who contribute to the course with case studies and specific insights), Engineer Orlando emphasized the great usefulness of these evaluations—especially those conducted within the School’s course—for the Ministry’s work and investments both within the PNRR framework and through other funding sources for public restoration and territorial enhancement projects. He expressed the hope to identify forms and methods of stronger connection between the School’s activities on these topics, ongoing for several years, and the application of evaluation in the Ministry’s operational practice, aiming to improve its capacity for decision-making and implementation of public policies.